Open source project to develop geopolymer cast stone construction

Fireproof Concrete Created from Waste Product

SYDNEY: A by-product from coal-fired power stations can be made into a stronger and much safer concrete with far less carbon dioxide emissions, researchers have found. They say this technology could “revolutionise the world’s building and construction industries” and they hope to move the technology towards a large-scale trial and commercialisation. Materials scientist William Rickard and his colleagues from Curtin University, in Perth, used waste materials called ‘fly ash’ to create the concrete.

Fireproof concrete may save lives
“The main benefit of using fly ash polymer cements is that they maintain their strength up to 1,200ºC whereas traditional cements start losing their strengths at about 600ºC … In the event of a fire, a building using traditional cement can lose its strength and collapse.
Buildings with fly ash concrete would have a much better chance of surviving a fire, Rickard says. Even coating exposed structural steel with it would reduce the heat that goes through the steel and prevent combustion. Each year there are approximately 100 fatalities and about 3,000 injuries from structural fires in Australia alone.

As well recycling, the fly ash cement will be good for the environment because it releases up to 80% less carbon dioxide than standard cement.
It could make a big different on a global scale. “[Currently] 5–8% of the world’s carbon emissions come from the manufacture of traditional cement,” says Rickard.